The heat and humidity was supposed to produce lazy group games, lacking goals and creativity. Instead, the heat hasn't really been a factor in Brazil as evidenced by the record number of goals scored through the round-robin portion of the tournament. The reason? One theory being tossed around is that the European season extends well into the summer, making players' legs a bit more wobbly from the start of the tournament. Fatigue leads to defensive errors, which leads to mass a mass quantity of goals.

CONFEDERATION DOMINATION

Half of this weekend's Round of 16 will be made of teams from the Americas after five CONMEBOL sides advanced to the second round alongside three CONCACAF teams, the most the latter confederation has ever sent to a knockout phase. With all four of Asia's teams failing to advance, FIFA could look at giving the aforementioned confederations an extra spot at Russia 2018. For teams on this side of the globe, it serves as a reminder to UEFA sides that even mediocre teams from the Americas can compete with a lot of top teams.

BIG BOYS GO HOME

Raise your hand if you had Spain, Portugal, England and Italy all going home before the knockout phase. If you raised your hand, you're lying. Brazil 2014 marked the second time in as many tournaments that a defending champion has been knocked out at the group phase. Spanish bench boss Vincente del Bosque was badly out-coached in Spain's opener against the Netherlands, while Portugal completely capitulated in its opening match against Germany. England, I thought, had a decent tournament while Italy laid down when they needed to stand up most, a sign FIFA world ranking guarantees nothing.

SUAREZ SUSPENDED

Undoubtedly the story of the tournament so far. As I wrote earlier in the week, most repeat biters would end up in a straightjacket if caught biting pedestrians on the street. Or, as daycare workers know full well, kids who bite get sent home. Naturally, FIFA did the same to Suarez. And while I think the four-month ban Suarez was given would have been harsh following a first or second offence, committing the same act a third time warranted the punishment. Because of that, I can't see Uruguay going any further in the tournament.

CAF BEING CAF

It's difficult to separate fact from fiction when dealing with African sides at this tournament. First of all, full credit to Algeria for progressing in fine fashion. Nigeria, however, I thought was fortunate to go through. As for Ghana and Cameroon, something needs to be done to end alleged corruption. When players threaten to strike because they aren't being paid, it's time for FIFA to step in and sanction head officials. Some of the allegations against players and teams from the aforementioned countries were downright embarrassing. Inter-team squabbles, alleged planes full of cash and allegedly corrupt team officials, as uncovered by the UK's Telegraph.

KLOSE EQUALS MARK

Germany's Miroslav Klose is still hoping to become the World Cup's all-time leading scorer. Klose matched Brazil's Ronaldo earlier in the tournament when he scored the 15th World Cup goal of his career. German bench boss Joachim Loew tossed Klose on for the entire second half in a 1-0 win over the U.S. this week, but the 36-year-old couldn't break the record despite his best efforts. Now, heading into the knockout rounds, there are questions as to whether Loew will give Klose another chance to break Ronaldo's mark on Brazilian soil.

MESSI EMERGING

Lionel Messi appears to be on a mission to cement himself among the all-time greats. Some think he already is, but pundits agree that the truly elite -- Pele, Diego Maradona and friends -- stand alone after lifting a World Cup trophy. Messi's four goals in this tournament have him among the Golden Boot favourites. He also single-handedly lifted Argentina to wins against Bosnia and Iran. After battling injuries the last few years, should Messi guide Argentina to its first World Cup title since 1986 he'll likely overtake Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of the never-ending battle for the title of world's best. Ronaldo, on the other hand, wasn't at his best in two of Portugal's three group games here in Brazil.

RATINGS BEGIN TO SOAR

TV ratings around the world have been massive for this World Cup. With more games to come, the U.S. has shattered previous viewership records in games against Portugal and Germany. Against Portugal, close to 25 million Americans (ESPN and Univision viewers) tuned in to the see the Yanks draw 2-2 with the Iberian squad. That figure beat the previous mark set in 1999 when Women's World Cup fever hit the U.S. On Thursday, ESPN announced the U.S.-Germany match set a viewership record for a midweek, midday time slot. It also became the second-most viewed match in men's World Cup history behind the Portugal game. Viewership records were also set in Belgium, the UK and Germany, among others.

FRED'S SIMULATION

It didn't take long for this World Cup to produce its first controversial moment. Referee Yuichi Nishimura's decision to award Brazilian striker Fred a second-half penalty in the World Cup opener changed the entire complexion of a match Croatia performed quite well in. Fred's flop was so egregious even local media took aim. The incident brought up the larger issue of whether replay should be instituted in the game. And if a player should receive supplementary discipline from FIFA for making a mockery of the match -- something Nishimura discovered minutes after the game when he watched the incident on replay.

REFS GOING OFFSIDE

Three good goals have been called back for allegedly being offside. Mexico scored twice against Cameroon before having both goals improperly disallowed and Bosnia -- in a match it lost 1-0 -- had a good goal disallowed due to a bogus offside call. Here's what I propose: Coaches should be able to challenge (review) a close offside call or no-call (involving a goal or penalty kick only) once per match. If that coach wins the challenge, he can challenge another offside call later in the game until he gets one wrong. I'm mostly against instituting replay, but the naked eye gets far too much wrong. Some variation of the aforementioned policy should be implemented.